Brasil - 2013/2015

Grow sustainably

In the Cerrado, a vast savannah ravaged by mining activity, burning campaigns and monoculture, the Audemars Piguet Foundation is financing the creation of family nurseries and a training cycle for young farmers. These initiatives are part of a programme by the Entraide Protestante Suisse (EPER - Swiss Interchurch Aid) designed to help families recreate the biodiversity of their lands and escape from poverty.

Burkina-Faso - 2011/2012

combating desertification

A nursery created in the Province of Oubritenga has allowed more than 50,000 plants of various species to be produced. Managed by village committees, it is a centre of theoretical and practical activities to establish awareness of the importance of the forest among young people. By creating jobs, the project has also contributed towards the fight against youth unemployment and rural depopulation.

Senegal - 2010/2011

restoring the mangrove

Upon the request of the “Association of fishermen and fish merchants of Balantacounda”, the Foundation financed the replanting of mangroves in the Casamance River in order to restore the piscicultural fauna. Managed by “Nouvelle Planète”, an association that has been in operation for around thirty years, mainly in Africa, the project was completed by the development of activities to generate second incomes for the fishermen in order to halt rural depopulation.

Scotland - 2010

restoring the forest

The opportunity for this project was created by a campaign to clear the conifers planted last century, allowing the land to be replanted with traditional tree varieties. The NGO “Scottish Native Woods” managed this restoration which was accompanied by a theoretical and practical programme to promote awareness among children of the importance of the forest and the training of volunteers.

India - 2008/2009

rosemary in the Himalayas

In the foothills of the Himalayas, the region of Nainital is threatened with rural depopulation. The NGO “Humana People to People” replanted twenty-five thousand trees and shrubs in order to stabilise the terraces and revitalise the springs. Workshops about water management and rediscovery of traditional agricultural methods completed the project.

Rosemary, a herb that is highly prized in cities and brings supplementary revenue to farmers, was planted on the edges of fields.

Namibia - 2006/2008

trees for orphans

In a region in which desertification is gaining on the land, the first axis of the project was to create isolated patches of vegetation in soil restored by the presence of trees. Two thousand trees were entrusted to five hundred orphans. Nearly two hundred volunteers, trained by around forty project managers, ensured support for these orphans and led the workshops: tree care, of course, but also information about AIDS, health and nutrition advice.

Portugal - 2004/2006

the Tapada de Mafra

The Tapada de Mafra, a historic royal game park north of Lisbon, was almost entirely devastated by fire in 2004.

Having cleared the area of all the charred wood, the Tapada’s managers planted mainly cork oaks everywhere that natural reforestation did not apply. Each plant is protected from the game that has returned to the Tapada following the fire. An “Audemars Piguet educational trail” today serves as a reminder of the Foundation’s participation in the recreation of this natural environment.

France - 2004

The “Salle Triangulaire” at Versailles

Following the storm of December 1999, the Park of the Grand Trianon was rendered a wasteland from which a few stone buildings emerged.

A project to restore the garden to its 1704 state had been about to be carried out, following a ten-year study by the architect in chief of historic monuments. Together with the project's partners, the Les Amis de Versailles society, the Foundation financed the replanting that allowed the Salle Triangulaire to be recreated as it would have been presented to visitors in 1704.

France - 1992

the Tête de Chien

The Foundation’s first project, the reforestation of this rocky spur that overhangs Monaco represented a great feat for French foresters: six thousand Aleppo pines, around twenty centimetres high, were planted by hand on these steep slopes that were ravaged by violent fires in 1986 and 1989.

In order to allow the original biodiversity to be reconstructed, basins of around fifty centimetres in depth were dug in the rock in order to implant isolated patches of scrubland.

China - 2009/2011

spreading awareness amongst schoolchildren

Thanks to funding from the Foundation, the training centre of WWF International in Beijing trained 300 youth workers in order eventually to reach 1,000 teachers and 100,000 schoolchildren in the provinces.

In addition to educating participants about the forest, the project also included the creation of a complete set of pedagogical material and the development of awareness regarding the use of products of the forest according to the principle of sustainable development.

Switzerland - 2009

the NatuRando file

This file describes the educational forest trails in the west of the canton of Vaud and presents the 57 most common tree varieties in our forests. Teeming with information about suggested places to visit, this file permits a better understanding of the life of our forests and their development throughout history. It is an effective tool to promote awareness of the importance of the forest.

Colombia - 2003 and 2009

Bambi homes

The “Aide aux Enfants” association of Geneva manages seven homes for street children in Colombia. Every year, it calls upon sponsors to finance these homes.

An environmental awareness programme for the children- a totally new initiative for the country that will be used in the Association’s seven homes- was created in exchange for the Foundation’s sponsorship.

Armenia - 2007/2009

gardens in school playgrounds

At the instigation of the teachers and students of the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute, pupils from around twenty schools in northern Armenia planted hundreds of plum trees and rose bushes around their schools.

In parallel, 70 teachers took part in a training course promoting awareness of ecology, and the creation of suitable material for children of 14 and 15 years of age was carried out by a multidisciplinary team.

Kenya - 2007/2008

eco-tourism in the Kikuyu territory

This project by the UICN, financed by the Foundation, ensured the conciliation between tourism and sustainable development while at the same time involving the local populations in its activities. It allowed a training course to be created for fauna wardens and guides, and signposts indicating authorised routes through the hills of the Kikuyu territory to be put in place.

Switzerland - 2006/2008

the Musée du Bois

The Musée du Bois (Wood Museum) of the Arboretum of the Aubonne Valley hosts a unique collection of historic objects and tools. This private institution asked the Foundation to finance the display cases of the new area created in an old farm. These new display cases are used to exhibit a collection dedicated to cooperage, an important activity in the Joux valley in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Mexico - 2006

Huichol pilgrimage route

The Huichol pilgrimage route is a veritable “itinerant university” that is essential for the protection of this people’s culture. Crossing unique biotopes threatened by urbanisation and intensive agriculture, the route to the east of Zacatecas was named a natural reserve in view of its inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage list, like the pathways of Santiago de Compostella.

Switzerland - 2005

the Discovery Trail in Risoud

To mark the 130th anniversary of the Audemars Piguet Manufacture, the Foundation financed a “discovery trail” in the Risoud forest, one of the jewels of the Joux valley. Starting at a forest refuge, a pathway with ten information boards allows the flora, fauna and topography of the great forest of Risoud to be discovered.

Switzerland - 2000 and 2005

the Miécourt arboretum

Almost all of the tall fruit trees of Ajoie (canton of Jura) were uprooted by the storm of December 1999. Several indigenous species were threatened with extinction if urgent action was not taken. The eighty trees of the Arboretum financed by the Foundation represent a genetic database of inestimable value. They allow the fight to be continued against the extinction of rustic species that are essential to the maintenance of the unique biodiversity of the Jura orchard.

France - 2003/2004

“Envie de Thau”

The International Year of Water gave the Foundation the opportunity to support a project to educate children about the environment that was not centred on the forest, the Foundation's main field of action.
The “Envie de Thau” programme was the first to teach children about protecting the lagoon environment, that of Lake Thau near Sète, including a major scientific section.

The children’s work is presented in a dedicated room in the Musée de l'Etang de Thau in Bouzigues, the creation of which was financed by the Foundation.

Cameroon - 2003

Radio Environnement

In partnership with UICN; the Fondation Audemars Piguet financed the transmitter of a pilot radio station, Radio Environnement.

Alternating educational programmes, information bulletins about the forest, games and music, Radio Environnement has found its public and its contribution to the protection of the forest has proven to be essential. Its programmes specifically aimed at children are the only means of forest education available to the young people of the cities.

Hungary - 2002

the Nagyszékely ecological programme

Allowing city children to discover nature while at the same time revitalising the life of a small village was the aim of the “Nagyszékely ecological programme” (Hungary). It combined promotion of the threatened natural and architectural heritage with the promotion of environmental awareness for the children.

An organic crop programme was set up and a “Youth Centre” and an “Information Centre” host youth camps and training workshops about environmental protection and maintaining traditional craft skills.

Albania - 2001

the Elbasan Canteen

The “Useful To Albanian Women” association manages a meeting place in Elbasan for underprivileged children, which welcomes 120 children aged between 7 and 13 every day.

The Fondation Audemars Piguet financed the creation of an environmental awareness programme with the aid of forestry, environmental and educational professionals. Workshops for the maintenance and restoration of public parks served as major themes of the training programme.

Chile - 2001

green spaces in shanty towns

Nearly 500 children and teenagers aged from 5 to 18 attend the drop-in centres of Puente Alto and Casas Viejas in the southern suburbs of Santiago de Chile. The Fondation Audemars Piguet financed a community programme for environmental education that was enjoyed by 150 participants.

The creation of green spaces in these shanty towns, created and maintained by the children, served as the starting point for this programme.

Hong Kong - 1999

spreading awareness among children

The “Hong Kong Society for the Protection of the Children” cares for over 2,500 children under the age of twelve in 25 specialised institutions.

In December 1998, a gala dinner raised the money required for a project to teach children about forest protection. In the spring of 1999, children participated in the planting of “their trees” in grounds belonging to the society. These new green spaces, which are highly precious in this over-urbanised city, have become areas of relaxation and allow the children to observe the growth of a wooded park.

United States - 1993

New York Forest

The New York botanical gardens in the Bronx include a forest of 16 hectares, what remains of the original forest that was cleared in order to build the city. The Audemars Piguet Foundation helped to finance a project to restore this preserved ecosystem in the heart of an urban area.

In addition to the forest conservation work, pedagogical material was created in order to help visitors understand this biotope and make them aware of the importance of the forest in the natural balance.

Switzerland - 2008/2011

Chêne 2200

The “Chêne 2200 Award” was aimed at financing the rejuvenation of those forests that have suffered over the past few decades from the decrease in the price of oak. The candidates had to distinguish themselves by their efforts to interest the population in the importance of the forest and maintain their forests in a sustainable manner despite the poor financial productivity of this territory. The four beneficiaries were Allschwil (canton of Basel-Landschaft), Bülach (canton of Zurich), Peseux (canton of Neuchâtel) and Wangen-an-der-Aare (canton of Bern).

Switzerland -

burial of electric cables

There are no visible high-voltage cables in the Joux valley: firstly, the Foundation helped to finance the creation of underground high-voltage cables around the Lac de Joux. It then funded the burial of the medium-voltage cables that crossed the nationally important high marshes of the Orbe valley.

Ghana - 2003

promotion of Allanblackia oil

The oil from Allanblackia pods, a tree common to tropical forests, is used in the food and cosmetics industries. This oil is not currently used by locals. It can partially replace palm oil, representing an interesting diversification of the resources of rural communities.

Japan - 2002

the Myiazaki Symposium

To mark its tenth anniversary, the Fondation Audemars Piguet financed the first “International Evergreen Broad-Leafed Forest Culture Symposium”, a conference for tropical forest specialists, accompanied by awareness activities for children and the publication of educational works.

Groups of children planted trees on the site and tested the environmental awareness workshops, which were then offered to all interested classes.

- 2000

Sponsorship for the 125th anniversary of Audemars Pigue

In celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Manufacture, an ideas competition was launched amongst employees. It resulted in grants paid by the company to ten institutions who work with children in difficulty.

These included the nutrition centre for street children in Can Tho (Vietnam), two institutions in the Joux valley, a crèche and a centre for children with multiple disabilities and the French NGO “A Chacun son Everest” which organises mountaineering courses for children suffering from cancer.

Ecuador - 2010/2011

training eco-wardens

Following a request from indigenous organisations (the Shiwiar and Zaparas Indians) to find the means to conserve the biodiversity and promote their land themselves, the Foundation financed the training of eco-wardens in 20 villages, under the supervision of the NGO Arutam. Recognised by the authorities, this training was coupled with the classification of the forests of these villages as “inhabited forest reserves” according to the standards in force in Ecuador.

Colombia - 2007/2010

giving the Kogis back their lands

The Foundation financed the move of a dozen families to lands acquired by the NGO Tchendukua, dedicated to defending the Kogi Indians. Each family received the expenses, tools and seeds necessary for a successful move.

Their mission is to recreate the biodiversity of these lands, which have been dried out and polluted by intensive agriculture or desertified by the defoliants discharged within the context of the fight against drugs.

Peru - 2007/2008

the “Selva Viva” sails for the Indians

Financed by the Fondation Audemars Piguet, the “Selva Viva” sails across the Peruvian Amazon at the service of the Indians who have settled along the river and who are the greatest defenders of the Amazon rainforest.

The French NGO ARUTAM arranged for it to be constructed by unemployed people in Iquitos using traditional techniques.

The boat carries out scientific missions to review the plants used for traditional medicine, allows exchanges between Indian villages and, several months per year, hosts solidarity tourist trips that finance the vessel’s activities.

Democratic Republic of Congo - 2005

traditional beekeeping

The UICN project financed by the Fondation Audemars Piguet aimed to increase beekeepers’ revenue by setting up a cooperative. It allowed workshops to be set up to produce traditional beehives, a technique that had been lost over time. Instead of cutting down trees as they had been doing for the past few decades, the beekeepers can once again collect honey from their hives without harming the forest.

Switzerland - 2004/2005

the “Terroir Chêne” Label

The Changins School of Agriculture has created a line of indigenous oak for cooperage and asked the Foundation to finance the creation of the “Terroir Chêne” (Land of the Oak) label. As every oak tree sold for cooperage is valued at over ten times the usual price for joinery or construction, this label helps to preserve Swiss oak forests.

Switzerland - 1995

The Jurassien Vaudois Park

Since they were cleared, the pastures of the Jurassien Vaudois Park have been delimited by dry stone walls. The Fondation Audemars Piguet financed restoration workshops for these walls and training in dry stone walling. It therefore helped to prevent the disappearance of an art that has today been abandoned by those in charge of high mountain pastures due to its cost.

SWITZERLAND -

THE MANUFACTURE DES FORGES

Inaugurated in 2008, the Manufacture des Forges at Le Brassus is the first to be Minergie-ECO®-certified. This label is a combination of ecological construction and advanced care for user comfort. Using materials with little harm to the environment or human beings and employing energy saving measures are the basic requirements of the label. The Manufacture is heated by a wood-fired plant serving both the Audemars Piguet Le Brassus sites and many public and private buildings in the village.
Special attention has been given to limiting electromagnetic waves generated by the computer and telecommunication systems and the values measured are well below Swiss standards. These facilities have been developed in partnership with the university hospitals of Lausanne and Geneva.

SWITZERLAND -

FSC CERTIFIED COMPANY

Wood and its by-products, including paper for the office and the company's publications, are certified FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council), a label that traces woody products from their forests of origin which meet environmentally-friendly operating criteria.

Switzerland -

CERTIFIED HYDRAULIC POWER

The power used by Audemars Piguet in the Vallée de Joux is certified to be Swiss hydraulic production. It comes from the production of the hydraulic power plant of the Rhône de Mörel (canton of Valais) and the entire extra expense of the certification is intended to maintain and develop hydraulic power plants.

SWITZERLAND - 2012

Electric vehicles between sites

The electric vehicles and bicycles provided by the company allow for for journeys between the sites in the Vallée de Joux without using fossil fuel. This fleet is available to the staff for journeys outside working hours. Staff coming to work with their own vehicle can recharge their batteries at the charging terminals on each site.

SWITZERLAND -

Environmental policy

The Audemars Piguet Foundation guarantees good company practices. It supervises the activity of the Audemars Piguet Eco-Group, a working group overseeing the application of ecological standards and social responsibility laid down by the Board of Directors. This proactive group anticipates changes in standards and regulations to ensure a watch design business that is both environmentally-friendly and concerned for the well-being of its employees.

The Garden Of Time

The Garden Of Time

Since 2012, the "Garden of Time" offers a new experience: go in a few minutes, the last twenty million years of the Jura.

Educational public park, the garden of Time evokes the evolution of the geology, flora and fauna of the Vallée de Joux since primitive times to the oldest "living", rediscovered in 1969, a 17 year old mammoth died some sixteen thousand years ago. Islands showing the complete flora present in the home garden spaces picnic.

80 projects, 36 countries

The Board of the Audemars Piguet Foundation is chaired by Mrs Jasmine Audemars, daughter of Jacques-Louis Audemars, who initiated the Foundation in 1992.

It benefits from the scientific cooperation of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an organization comprising almost 1,000 governmental and non-governmental members, all responsible for conservation issues.